What will be the common name for Achimenes?

                                 Achimenes 'Red Elf' grown by Ron Myhr, Aug, 2021

What will the common name be for Achimenes?

 

Achimenes               ah-KIM-eh-neez

 

 Achimenes are pretty flowering summer plants not commonly seen.

 

They were a commercial crop about 50 years ago and then disappeared.  Interest in Achimenes continued in the Gesneriad hobby world but seldom anywhere else.

 

With work and luck, they may make a comeback.  I’ve obtained the best-in- the-World hybrids from Romania and will be introducing them to the North American market.

 

Achimenes are long day to flower, so plants started in the spring, will flower through the summer, and go dormant in the fall after making underground rhizomes.

 

Here is the problem.  There is no good common name.  A Google search will give you:

Cupid’s bow, hot water plants, magic flower, monkey faced pansy, Mother’s tears, nut-orchid, Orchid pansy, star of India, widow’s tears.

 

I’ll just jump to the conclusion.  None of these existing common names make any sense nor are any good.

 

The field is wide open.

 

What should the common name be?

 

Purists will want us to learn to say Achimenes {ah-KIM-eh-neez}

 

We practical humans will want an easy memorable common name.  Nobody says:  “Have you seen my Aeschynanthus radicans?”  They say: “Wow. Look at my Lipstick Plant with its red flowers.”

 

With no good established common name for Achimenes, the time is right.

 

What will the common name be?